Lyrics and Lyricists
You Send Me: The Songs and Soul of Sam Cooke
92nd Street Y, NYC, April 23, 2022
Reviewed by Ron Forman
The latest production of the 50th season of the Lyrics and Lyricists series at the 92nd Street Y was You Send Me: The Songs and Soul of Sam Cooke. It was quite different from the more than 100 previous productions there I have witnessed over the past 25 years in that it was essentially a one-man show. However, that one man was the very dynamic Darius de Haas. He has a very powerful voice that works well whether he’s performing rock, gospel, or even songs chosen from the Great American Songbook. He was constantly in motion, moving gracefully across the stage, and his dancing, when it was appropriate, drew cheers from the audience. He also interestingly and entertainingly intertwined the story of Cooke’s life and music with the progress that was being made in the civil rights movement. He even told a very amusing story about his vocalist mom hooking up with Cooke! De Haas was backed nicely by a trio of excellent vocalists—Crystal Monee Hall (who provided all the vocal arrangements), Cal Mitchell, and Alex Grayson, each of whom was given a solo turn in one of the numbers.
De Haas opened the show with a lively “(Ain’t That) Good News” followed by one of Cooke’s biggest hits, “Wonderful World” (Sam Cooke/Herb Alpert/Lou Adler). He mentioned that Cooke was influenced by, among others, Billie Holiday and Bing Crosby, but especially by Nat Cole, and he paid tribute to Cole with a soft “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons.” He evoked Cooke’s vocal style on Cooke’s biggest hit recording, “You Send Me.” De Haas was joined on stage by his back-up trio for three numbers: “Good Times,” “Another Saturday Night,” and a very kinetic “Everybody Likes to Cha Cha.” These were followed by “Twistin’ the Night Away,” which had the audience twisting in their seats. Joined on stage by guitarist Sherrod Barnes, de Haas offered a beautifully soft “Cupid.” He introduced the company’s rousing performance of “Chain Gang” by telling us that Cooke was involved in the early days of the civil rights movement. This was followed by a unique performance of Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind.”
In 1964, Sam Cooke played the Copacabana in New York, and de Haas shifted gears and became a swinging nightclub performer with “When I Fall in Love” and a rocking “Tennessee Waltz,” that was very different from Patti Page’s hit version. He told the sad tale of Cooke’s being shot in the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles at age 33 in 1964. That led into de Haas’ moving performance of “A Change Is Gonna Come.” The show closed with the company performing a rousing “Shake.”
